Finally Coming Home
by AlecTowser
Summary: He didn't really consider Gallifrey as 'home' in anything more than name. So where was the Doctor's home? Written for fanfic100 prompt "090. Home."


**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own OCs, should I create any for these stories.**

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He'd told his companions that he wasn't from Earth; that his home lay elsewhere. But he didn't really consider Gallifrey as 'home' in anything more than name. It was his planet of origin, true, but once he'd run off with Arkytior (who he only took because she'd insisted on coming along; he would have rathered that she'd stayed behind and stayed safe) in the old Type-40 TARDIS he'd found, he hadn't really looked back. He'd been an idealistic young fool, intent on actually doing something with his life to help others rather than sit around and just watch history take place like the rest of his people seemed so content to do.

He'd taken up a residence on Earth for a handful of months under the name of "Foreman", which he'd appropriated from the name painted on the gate of the junkyard they'd landed in. He and Arkytior (who by this point was going by 'Susan' instead so as to not draw attention) had used this time to both study the human race and keep a low profile from the Time Lords searching for them. It hadn't lasted for long, however, as two of Susan's schoolteachers had followed her back to the junkyard one night, suspicious that she had listed the junkyard as her home address. Their brief sojourn on Earth had ended then, and they'd left to have other adventures.

He'd never stayed in one place or one time for very long with any of his companions; there was no real attachment to anywhere for him, especially once he'd left Susan behind on Earth. He wanted to give the chance he never could have; to have a place that she could call home, and to not constantly be looking over her shoulder for a threat.

He tried to convince himself that it had been for the best; he was on the run and couldn't afford to settle down anywhere, and that suited him and his wanderlust just fine. A life staying with him would never have suited Susan, but even though he knew this, it still broke his hearts to leave her.

After that, he flitted around, gaining and losing companions here and there, planet- and time-hopping like there was no tomorrow. He knew it would catch up to him eventually…he just never thought it would be this soon, though. Although, to be fair, the only reason he'd been caught was because he'd been forced to contact the Time Lords when he was unable to undo the War Chief's damage on his own.

Since then, he'd been forced to spend time on Earth in exile, and initially he was angry and bitter. He didn't want to stay; his place wasn't on this primitive, backwater planet. He had no one here; no family, no real place of residence, either - he lived on the UNIT base. He was, quite literally, a stranger in a strange land.

Although, as he got to know the personnel working on the base over the years he was there, he had to admit he got lonely without their company sometimes (though he'd never tell them). He loved bothering the Brigadier by throwing his rules and regulations right out the window, loved being able to talk with Liz about scientific matters as a peer (Rassilon knows he was hard-pressed to find that sort of person easily) before she'd left, loved making Sergeant Benton and Captain Yates laugh with his latest ridiculous stories, and he loved awing Jo and Sarah Jane every time he'd taken them someplace new or shown them something 'impossible'.

It wasn't until his last moments in this incarnation, however, that he realized that this time period and this place had become something special to him. The revelation had come to him while he was stuck in the time vortex, suffering after the incident on Metebelis III. He could feel his internal systems shutting down from the radiation, and knew it wouldn't be long before he was too far gone for regeneration (if he wasn't already). As odd and unorthodox as his stay with UNIT and its people might have been for the past number of years, it had become his home, and he knew he would miss it. As he felt the TARDIS finally landing for his last time and dragged himself to the door wearily, he wondered if they would miss him, too.


End file.
